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Sunday, 5 June 2011

Over the past year I've read some amazing books and my TBR list has grown out of control and I know that I probably wouldn't ever have read/ discovered some of these books I've loved (or not loved) if it wasn't for book blogging. And I want to celebrate these books! Here's a list of then:

Vampire Academy and Frostbite by Richelle Mead

I always said to myself that I would never read a vampire book before I started blogging despite never even trying one. I had a preconceived idea that I would hate all paranormal books before I'd even given them a chance. This changed when I was recommended the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead by Jess Hearts Books and saw how many other bloggers enjoyed them too. When I was asked if I would like to review Vampire Academy by the publisher for the release of Last Sacrifice, I took the chance gladly and was surprised to find that I actually liked it. I've now read the second book too and plan to read the rest of the series too.

Other paranormal books I quite liked are and would never have read before are:

The Need Pixies series by Carrie Jones

Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin

Waterfall by Lisa T Bergen

I haven't reviewed Waterfall yet but I read it last month and oh did I LOVE it! It was as if everything I love in a book had been rolled into the perfect package. I'm so excited about reading the sequel Cascade, which was just released. The reason I might not have discovered it without blogging is that its published in the US and I wouldn't have found it in the library or my local bookshop. It was Small Review's fantastic review of it that real persuaded me to read it so thank you Small :D

Other US books I might not have discovered are:

The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson

The Queen's Daughter by Susan Coventry

Prisoners Of The Palace by Michaela Mcoll

Bumped by Megan Mcafferty

I didn't use to read dystopian books but when I saw all the praise and good reviews for Bumped around the blogosphere it sparked my interest and I got an e-galley off NetGalley. Whilst in the end, Bumped wasn't the book for me I'm still glad that I read it.

This goes the same for Delirium by Lauren Oliver and Matched by Allie Condie

Contemporary books

I had read very few contemporary books before blogging and I think this was because I found in my early reading experiences that the historical books for children were more interesting to read because they had more description and more believable characters than contemporaries like Jaquelin Wilson's books I tried (not that I'm bashing Wilson at all- she's fantastic at getting some children into reading!) . However I've found several that I've really liked through review books and recommendations and my idea of contemporaries has been changed:

Drawing With Light and Breathing Underwater by Julia Green

When I was sent these I enjoyed reading them more than I thought I would and I've recommended them to several people at my school. My favourite thing about them was the beautiful descriptions because I'd never encountered them in a contemporary book before.

Flawless by Lara Chapman

I liked this one for it's strong and likable characters each with their own flaws-a recommended read!

What books have you read that you probably wouldn't have without the book blogosphere?

For me, I would never had picked up 'Thirteen Reasons Why' by Jay Asher or 'Candor' by Pam Bachorz without some of the reviews I'd read on the blogosphere. There are still books out there I'd like to read thanks to the reviews I'd seen.

I'm a teenage girl living who loves reading and thinks there's nothing better than curling with a good book. My favourite genre is YA historical fiction as I love to escape back into the past. You can find me at stephanie(dot)reads(at)hotmail(dot)co(dot)uk